AA welcomes probe into appointment of IDEMIA to produce smart driving licence cards

JOHANNESBURG - The Automobile Association (AA) has welcomed the inclusion of a probe into the appointment of French technology company Idemia to produce the country's new smart driving licence cards.

The investigation is set to be included in the Auditor-General (AG)'s audit of the procurement process for the new licences after the AA raised concerns over the company's appointment. 

Earlier this week, the transport department announced the multi-national technology company as its preferred bidder over four others.

But the AA said that the value of the contract, its time frames and the reason why Idemia was selected needed to be made public, especially given that the contract it held with the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) was cancelled less than a week before the department's announcement.

The association welcomed the probe after Transport Minister Barbara Creecy asked the AG to widen the scope of the audit process to include an investigation into key issues.